Last Cinderella: Ep 11 (Finale)

I’m sad that I won’t get to see Sakura, Shima, and Miki together anymore! I love these three!

Ok before I start complaining about this finale, let’s talk about the good first! Really the only saving grace in this episode is the awesome sisterhood and friendship between Miki, Sakura, and Shima-nee. I love these three together so much!! It is really heartwarming to see them all getting ready for Miki’s wedding, squealing over Shima’s new serious boyfriend, and celebrating at the wedding ceremony. The first half of the episode made me laugh because of how cute these besties are together. I also like how Shima and Miki each have different opinions about who Sakura should choose–Miki thinks Hiroto is sincere whereas Shima believes that Sakura needs Rintaro’s unwavering love–but in the end they assure her that the choice is up to her. No matter what they will still be her supportive and loving friends.

And by the way, I really love Miki’s wedding dress, it is so beautiful! She also has a really pretty gown for her wedding reception. Shima also looks great in her dark blue dress (ok Shima looks good in anything). I like how Sakura’s dress has a train but I don’t like the straps/boobage. T_T” When she runs, the dress does not flatter her very well.

I also have to pay tribute to Ken, who is one of my favorite supporting characters. Whether he’s gossiping with the guy group or talking about love advice with the ladies, Ken is always sweet and funny. All of his scenes totally made me crack up in this episode! I especially love how he catches the bouquet and then gives his crush a peck on the cheek. I wish Ken could’ve gotten more screentime in this drama but all in all, he was a great supporting character.

Anyways I know I said before that I don’t care who ends up with who anymore, that it is not realistic for Rintaro and Sakura to end up together, blah blah blah. But when it actually happened (meaning, Rintaro and Sakura don’t end up together) I didn’t handle it very well. T_____T I feel like the drama totally led me on with the sliver of hope that MAYBE Rintaro and Sakura could get together, only to let me down in the end.

Somehow it feels like Sakura and Rintaro’s chemistry is even stronger than before now that Rintaro’s feelings are finally out in the open. I really like the scene when Sakura sees the English flashcards that Rintaro made for her. The phrases he wrote on them show how much he understands her and how he loves her for all that she is. Sorry Sakura, but did Hiroto ever show that he understands you at this deep of a level!?!? (Someone’s bitter…….ME.) Anyways what really makes this scene isn’t just Rintaro’s sweet gesture…it’s Sakura’s touched reaction. She tears up while reading the flashcards and GAZES at Rintaro as he sleeps. At that point, I was all, “AHA! This is THE moment when Sakura decides that even if she doesn’t love Rintaro romantically, she still wants to be by his side no matter what!!!” Well guess what, I WAS WRONG. My dream = BROKEN.

So, the moment when my newfound hope in Rintaro x Sakura started to waver is when Rintaro overhears Sakura mutter “Hiroto-kun” in her drunken sleep. Of course in drama language, this means that Sakura hasn’t gotten over Hiroto and that she is just going with Rintaro to mend her broken heart. Rintaro’s heart = *CRACK* OMGGGGGGGG WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY?!?!?!?!? AUGHHHHH!!!!!! And to make this even more frustrating, of course Rintaro is gonna do the “right thing” and let Sakura and Hiroto be together. AUGHHHHHHHH.

POOR RINTARO. ONCE A SECOND LEAD, ALWAYS A SECOND LEAD. He is just so perfect that I should’ve known earlier on that he was meant to be the second lead. My shipping him and Sakura was futile from the beginning!!!! T___T” I think the saddest Rintaro x Sakura scene is when Rintaro lies to Sakura that Hiroto is hurt and that she should go see him. Sakura barely thinks about it, she just goes, “OK!” and at that very moment it’s like Rintaro’s heart is crushed yet again. There is this look of disappointment and loneliness in his eyes when he hears Sakura’s answer. It is like he already knows that Sakura loves Hiroto, but to get the confirmation of her feelings must hurt even more.

Anyways Rintaro is made out to be that perfect guy who steps back and does anything just for his love to be happy. I’m rather unsatisfied with this because 1) It makes him into a very obvious second lead. 2) Rintaro shouldn’t give up on his love after all of this, and he shouldn’t have used this tactic to get Sakura to inadvertently reveal her true feelings. Rintaro and Hiroto are always discussing with each other what is best for Sakura, but they don’t really let Sakura tell them what her own decision is. Rintaro just decides that Sakura is meant to be with Hiroto without even asking her about it first-hand. T_T Part of me wonders what would’ve happened if Rintaro had not given Sakura the push in Hiroto’s direction. What would’ve happened if Sakura went with him to New York? Would she have fallen for Rintaro instead? Oh well..what’s done is done but I can’t help but wonder!

Oh, and when Sakura and Rintaro part, they do a FIST PUMP. A FIST PUMP. NOT EVEN A HUG. =________= It’s like Rintaro going “OK I’m gonna go to New York now, FAREWELL….POUND IT!” *holds out fist*

Ok I know I sound incredibly bitter over the finale because Rintaro and Sakura did not end up together, but that is not the only reason why. If Sakura x Hiroto is the canon OTP, then why in the world does Hiroto barely have any screentime in the finale!?!? T___T Way too much time is wasted with Sakura running around back and forth, Choko turning over a new leaf, Sakura and Rintaro clearing up misunderstandings, etc. Hiroto is barely even there in this episode! And by the end, Hiroto just goes “ACTUALLY I WANNA BE WITH YOU.” Sakura: “OK!” THE END.

Me: “………….huh?” Everything just feels so anticlimatic and halfbaked. I would’ve liked to see more of how Hiroto and Sakura made up rather than just having them get back together at the very last minute. I also feel like Last Cinderella forced the whole “Choko is now a changed person” thing way too much because it was aiming for a fairytale ending. I find it hard to believe that Choko suddenly decided to let go of her many years of hatred just like that. And of course, the ending quote that ANYONE can be a Cinderella just made me facepalm. I get that this is supposed to be a happy ending but please let’s not overdo it now.

Overall Last Cinderella had a good start but ended up flailing towards the ending. It was fun when everything was up in the air and when it was unclear about who the real male lead was, but eventually the drama started to drag as the freshness started to wear off. There were a lot of undeveloped parts of the story, like Sakura & Rintaro’s past, Sakura’s mysterious lover who broke up with her 10 years ago, and Hiroto’s family issues. There are tons of hints all over the place about how Sakura’s past really hurt her, but the drama never takes a step further than that.

Anyways by the ending I became more neutral towards Sakura’s character. She is awesome in some parts and I’m glad she stayed true to who she is, but I also feel like her character did not grow as much as I thought it would. I think it would’ve been better if the drama had showed how Sakura was hurt in her past relationship (which resulted in her not dating for 10 years) and how Hiroto helped her move past that. As for Hiroto, he has changed a lot from the beginning but I feel like he took a few steps backwards in the finale. It was all up to Rintaro to push Hiroto & Sakura together, while all Hiroto did was broodily mope around.

^Awww Rintaro!! :'(

And now comes the question, why was Last Cinderella so popular and successful even though the characters were rather generic and the writing was not that great? To me it is all because of the cast. If Shinohara Ryoko and Fujiki Naohito were not in this drama, I probably wouldn’t have even checked it out in the first place. Also I’m sure that a large majority of the Last Cinderella fanbase consists of the Miura fangirls. Last Cinderella feels like a Tsuki no Koibito repeat–a drama with a bad plot, bad writing, and a star-studded cast that ends up being super popular. Except I wouldn’t go so far to say that Last Cinderella’s plot was as bad as Tsuki no Koibito’s.

9 thoughts on “Last Cinderella: Ep 11 (Finale)”

I didn’t have as many strong feelings as you did about the ending. I loved this drama when it first began mostly because I could relate to Sakura’s character so much, but by the end it was just a drama. All those qualities I related to were gone, but I kept watching cause I was curious how they were going to wrap it up. It seemed pretty apparent after Sakura and Hiroto slept together that they were going to end up together. How often does the female lead sleep with one guy but end up with another? I’ve only seen it happen once and that was in a Kdrama (I won’t say which one because it would be a complete spoiler). I also liked the supporting cast, but in Ken’s case I felt the awkwardness of his crush when he kissed him after catching the bouquet, especially since he’d made it clear he didn’t feel the same way about Ken. I would have liked it better if there had been a spark between the two.

Personally I liked my ending better but I suppose it was nice that they reformed Choko since I would have just killed her off.

I’m totally a Miura fangirl and not ashamed to admit it, lol. Although, he wasn’t actually the reason why I started watching it. It was this drama that really turned me into a Miura fangirl.

I agree with you about everything so i don’t have much to add. But i didn’t know how it rated in Japan. So it did really well then? I never really saw it as a mainstream successful drama so that surprises me.

I agree with you wholeheartedly! I’m so mad that Sakura didn’t end up with Rintaro. Argh!!!!!! He was perfect to the end! Usually in dramas, the couples who fight and bicker mostly in the beginning would be together in the end, but NO! It didn’t happen!!!! Sigh. Woe is me. And yes, the English flashcards part really tear me up. That was so sweet of Rintaro. While watching this drama, Rintaro keeps reminding me of Dokko Jin from the Greatest Love. This just makes me love his character more. ;_;

*sniff* You are bringing back all of my feelings for this drama now. I loved Rintaro so much, really hoped for a twist with the ending of Sakura x Rintaro but NOOOOOOOO. IT DIDN’T HAPPEN.

Well all in all, looking back I was very bitter over the ending and probably wouldn’t watch LC again but..it was a fun ride. I liked watching it every week and especially hearing everyone’s funny opinions on it. :P

What’s new?

-Checked out the tw-movie Black & White 2, which is the sequel to the popular tw-drama Black & White. Unfortunately..even though I haven't seen the drama, I know that the movie sequel isn't doing the drama justice at all. T_T First of all, Vic Zhou isn't even in the sequel even though his character was the more likeable one out of the 2 main characters. That leaves behind Mark Chao as the returning lead character. =_= I liked seeing Lin Geng Xin as his new partner (as you know, I love Lin Geng Xin HEHE!) but the two of them aren't enough to make the movie engaging.

About Heisui

Hi, I'm heisui. :3 I love watching & writing about a mixture of Japanese, Chinese, and Taiwanese dramas...with an occasional Korean and Hong Kong drama. Favorite genres are slice-of-life, human, and Chinese period. I love dark, introspective dramas as well as the addictive shippy ones. One of my pleasures in blogging is writing about less well known dramas, because I want to let people discover the hidden gems that are out there.